1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a safety identification assembly and an identification method and, more particularly refers to an identification system for identification of persons, such as two or more persons pertaining to a group and, even more particularly to be used in neonatology for identifying a newborn and his/her mother immediately after the mother is delivered of the baby, by practically simultaneously attaching the system to the newborn and the mother to identify them in an unalterable and in a violation-proof manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known to provide several means to identify a newborn after his/her mother is delivered of. The obstetrician is at the delivery room in a maternity hospital the responsible person for all the facts carried out in the room and for the certification of the newborn identification. At the deliverance the newborn and the mother remain joined through the umbilical cord which is to be cut or divided into sections, one section remaining attached to the newborn and the other section remaining with the mother's placenta. A metal clamp is clamped at each end of the cord section so that the cord section where the clamp is placed becomes strangulated. With the umbilical cord end closed with such clamps, the baby is then taken to a child care room adjacent to the delivery room wherein the baby is subjected to the first cares, washed, identified by taking the plantar print, and the information is recorded for control purposes. A bracelet containing the baby's name and other data thereof is generally placed in a wrist of the newborn. The metal clamps closing the umbilical cord are then removed and replaced by plastic disposable clamps which may remain in the umbilical cord until the cord is naturally reduced, strangulated and cut.
Regarding the means for the identification of the baby, the bracelet is the only one identifying device attached to the baby, the bracelet containing the data corresponding to the records entered in the control forms of the maternity hospital. If the data entered into the forms is not the correct one or, if one baby is mistakenly assigned to a mother a situation may arise where two or more babies become interchanged. In this situation the bracelet is not a guarantee that the maternity personnel will become aware of the mistake and the error is to be corrected. Thus, there is not a way to reconcile the information contained in the baby's bracelet other than against the forms filled out after the deliverance. That is, there is not a link between the baby and his/her mother that could be checked or reconciled to confirm that the baby is the correct one or that an error has been committed.
As stated above, the obstetrician is the person who is responsible for most of the cares to the baby and the identification thereof, however, after the deliverance, once the umbilical cord has been cut and the baby taken out of the deliverance room the obstetrician remains in the room taking care of the mother and the baby is attended out of the obstetrician's sight. Even when any error could have been committed with the baby's identification the obstetrician is the responsible for certifying his identity which act may be also certified by the maternity hospital. Such error may be committed involuntarily due to the numerous childbirths occurring in a hospital, particularly in specialized maternity hospitals where so many deliveries are practically simultaneous and handling and control thereof may be an overburden to the nurses and medical personnel.
It would be therefore very convenient to count on a safety system for identifying the baby in a way that the baby and his/her mother are linked by an ID system under the obstetrician's sight, whereby the above mistakes and the disastrous consequences thereof are prevented from being committed either involuntarily or intentionally.
3. Summary of the Invention
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a safety identification assembly to be preferably used in neonatology for identifying one or more newborns and his/her mother in a way that an identification link is formed between the baby or babies and the mother, the assembly comprising as many identification sub-assemblies as persons are to be identified, that is the mother and her baby or babies, the sub-assemblies being firmly placed in the mother's body and the baby's body practically simultaneously and immediately after the delivery upon the obstetrician sight.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a safety identification assembly for use in neonatology comprising identifying sub-assemblies detachably connected to each other and capable of being easily and manually detached in the deliverance room immediately upon the baby delivery, wherein the sub-assemblies are used for identifying the mother and her baby or babies and for closing the umbilical cord ends when the cord is cut, as usual, in two sections, one section of the cord remaining joined to the baby and the other section remaining joined to the placenta's mother.
It is even a further object of the present invention to provide a safety identification assembly of the type used for identifying individuals, particularly in neonatology to be applied to a newborn and his/her mother in a childbirth, wherein the identification assembly comprises at least two sub-assemblies connected to each other by at least one detachable connection, each sub-assembly comprising a closing clamp to be clamped at one side of a splitting section of a umbilical cord and a sealing device comprising a bracelet strap and violation-proof locking means for sealing the bracelet strap around the wrist of one of the newborn and his/her mother, each of the clamps and the sealing devices including an identification portion containing an identification code.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a method for identifying a newborn and his/her mother in a delivery at a delivery room, with the above mentioned identification assembly, the method comprising the steps of:
arranging the two sub-assemblies relative the umbilical cord so as to locate each clamp at both sides of the splitting section of the cord; PA1 closing each clamp so as to strangulate the umbilical cord at the both sides of the splitting section; PA1 cutting said splitting section of the cord while separating said sub-assemblies from each other, the clamps remaining clamped in respective divided lengths of the umbilical cord; PA1 separating said sealing devices from the clamps and putting the bracelet straps around the mother and baby's wrist respectively; and PA1 sealing the locking means to safely retain the bracelets in the mother and baby's wrists.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be better understood when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and description.